In a statement theWall Street firm offered little detail about the all-stock transaction but ina recent earnings report management noted the deal would help expand its reach into “important new verticals” like metals, mining andtransportation.
“Inaddition, this transaction will leverage our existing fixed cost structure,”said Cowen chairman Peter A Cohen. “We have been working diligently on ourintegration plan such that we can hit the ground running immediately followingclosing.”
Dahlman’s equityresearch teams appear to have escaped largely unscathed but the recent additionof the Cowen logo to daily shipping and offshore reports has prompted questionsabout whether one industry’s most recognizable brands will survive.
While staffers weretight lipped when contacted by TradeWinds the group’s website, www.drco.com,is no longer active and visitors are redirected to www.cowensecurities.com where abanner says “Dahlman Rose & Co has been renamed Cowen Securities LLC”.
"Dahlman Rose saw shippingcontributing to the sweeping global movement of commodities and goods and werean important and articulate part of the greatest boom shipping ever saw," said one market observer when asked for an opinion about the deal and the name change.
"Today’s news reminds us again just how difficult the business of investmentbanking can be. [While] a brand name may disappear many, many,excellent people will be with us hopefully for years to come."
In a recent investmentpresentation filed with securities regulators Cowen said the heads of itsbanking, global capital markets and equities and research units will “workclosely” with their Dahlman counterparts in an effort to ease integration.
The group pointedout that $105bn worth of debt and equity was raised by non-bulge banks onbehalf of clients within Dahlman’s core markets between 2010 and 2012. It claimsthe three-year total represents roughly $2bn in fees from 974 transactions.
“Dahlman’s equityfees during this period represented less than 3% of the overall fee pie,” Cowencontinued, adding: “With no debt practice, Dahlman Rose generated nominal feesduring this period.”
At last check,Cowen boasted a team of more than 130 sales and trading specialists and 80investment banking professionals in addition to 29 research analysts who coverover 400 companies.
According toregulatory filings, Dahlman’s ranks include 34 sales and trading professionalsand 11 equity researchers who follow 270 publicly-traded stocks including the majority ofthe US-quoted tanker, bulker and containership operators.
